Desperate Ploy

Cynical Race-Baiting Will Fail to Save the Democrats

04.14.14 10:17 AM ET

Sadly, it has come down to this. When they assumed power in 2009, Democrats promised that a trillion-dollar stimulus package would invigorate the economy and create millions of jobs. It did not happen—all while trillions of dollars were added to the national debt which will become due when these current lawmakers are safely in retirement.

The president of the United States and congressional Democrats promised that if they passed Obamacare, you could keep your doctor and your health plan while your premiums would decrease by an average of $2,500 a year. All of these claims were assessed and identified by the non-partisan Politifact as the biggest lie of 2013.

Time after time and on issue after issue, Democrats have made promise after promise to the people they were elected to serve which have come up empty. With no record of accomplishment to run on in November, congressional Democrats and President Obama will face a day of reckoning that could very well return control of the Congress to Republicans and neuter the remaining two years of Obama’s tenure in the White House.

Faced with such an unthinkable reality, the Democrats marked the 50th anniversary of passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 not by hailing the progress we have made as a nation but by resorting to the despicable act of accusing their political opponents of racism to preserve their hold on power in Washington, D.C. Late last week in these pages, I discussed how lack of political civility is destroying the ability of the political process to function in our nation’s Capitol.

Less than a week has passed since that post and it appears clear, now more than ever, that the men and women who call themselves leaders of the Democrat Party will stop at nothing to consolidate their perks and power while they tear the social fabric of our country apart in the process by smearing Republicans as being racist. Their latest ploy? Republicans must be racist for resisting calls by the Democrats and President Obama to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Last Tuesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made a bizarre observation when she noted that Republicans wouldn’t bring up immigration legislation due to racism. In a meeting with reporters Pelosi said:

I think race has something to do with the fact that they are not bringing up an immigration bill. I’ve heard them say to the Irish, ‘If it was you, it would be easy.’

Her words would be laughably absurd except that Pelosi is the leader of the Democrat Party in the House of Representatives and presumably articulating the view of the Democrats she was elected to lead. I’m curious if the Praetorian Guard that constitutes much of the mainstream press which covers Congress and the White House would dare ask Pelosi when and where she heard Republicans say to the Irish “if it was you, it would be easy.” Can she name the dastardly Republicans who made such a comment? No. This from the same Representative to Congress who said the House needed to pass Obamacare in order to know what the legislation contained—I’d offer that her credibility is wanting, to put it politely.

Yesterday, Representative Steve Israel (D-NY), perhaps emboldened by the racist smear of Republicans by the minority leader earlier in the week, took Pelosi’s words one step further. Beyond his duties as a member of Congress representing Long Island, Mr. Israel is head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the organization responsible for electing Democrats to the House of Representatives.

When asked why congressional Republicans had thus far failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the House, Congressman Israel offered the following: “To a significant extent, the Republican base does have elements that are animated by racism. And that’s unfortunate.”

Does Israel offer up any facts to fortify his incendiary charge? No. Where then, does he offer any proof to such an inflammatory remark? He doesn’t because he knows he doesn’t have to. Is this how the leader of the body charged with electing Democrats to Congress hopes to win in November—by alleging that the Republican base is animated by racism?

In this new era of “hope and change” ushered in by the Obama Administration and cheered on by the allegedly objective news media, race has been used repeatedly to silence dissenting political voices or beat down principled differences of opinion. Promotion of photo ID to protect the integrity of the ballot box from fraud? That’s rolling back the clock to the days of Jim Crow and poll taxes. Republican opposition to Obamacare? Racism.

Rather than champion issues of genuine concern to ethnic minorities in this country, many Democrat leaders in Washington, D.C., today are content to treat those they claim to be fighting for as nothing more than ignorant, hapless and incapable of surviving in our society without the help of the federal government.

What makes the comments of Pelosi and Israel particularly reprehensible is that they offer no evidence of such scurrilous accusations. Such scare tactics have worked in the past to mobilize voters to support Democrats against Republicans allegedly waging a “war on women” or “disenfranchising the vote” by requiring all legally eligible voters to produce identification to prevent fraud.

This November I predict the American voters will render judgment on Democrat attempts to divide the country on racial lines in a cynical attempt to cling to power. We were promised by Democrats years ago that they would heal old wounds and bring us closer together. By seeking to exploit our ugly past with racial bigotry for political advantage, Democrats should be prepared to have their proverbial chickens come home to roost—the American people are tired of craven political leaders who seek to divide us and will elect new ones who will lead the country celebrating the strength of our ethnic diversity rather than seek to exploit it for their own personal benefit.